welcome to the Wedding Planning Blog!

Planning a wedding can be the single most stressful thing you ever do. So why try to do it alone? This wedding planning blog will be your helpful assistant and provide you with wedding ideas, planning tips and some peace of mind during this wonderful and stressing time of your life. You only get married for the first time, once, so plan your wedding to be the best wedding!

Today we start a new continuing feature here at weddingsetups.com: a look at wedding traditions from around the world. You can use these articles to honor your family’s heritage during your wedding ceremony, wherever it takes place. Or, you can celebrate the bride or groom’s culture during a pre-wedding party (an article with ideas for these parties will follow).

German Wedding Traditions

Festive Felony

In the smaller villages, the bride may be ‘kidnapped’. The groom looks for her in the local pubs, often picking up the tab for all of the customers or inviting them along in the search.

Housewrecker

There is a house party before the wedding that ends with all of the dishes getting smashed for good luck. The “lucky” bride and groom have to clean up the mess.

German Wedding Food

The bride and groom snack on bread when they first arrive at their home after the wedding, to symbolize that they will never go hungry.

Wedding Cake

The traditional wedding cake is Baumkuchen, which is often made in stacked rings but can also come in the shape of a rectangular cake or small squares. The one below is from konditorei-werner.de, warning: if you visit this site it will make you want to fly to Germany for some dessert!

German Wedding Attire

Tasty Accessories

Traditionally, the bride carries bread and salt to symbolize a good harvest and the groom carries grain, which is a symbol for good luck and health. This is also an aspect of traditional Polish Weddings, to read all about them please visit polishwedding.blogspot.com – a very useful and informative source. Photo: Polishwedding.blogspot.com.

Yes, but how far can you throw it?

In Germany the bride passes her veil on to the next woman to be married, rather than throwing the bouquet.

German Wedding Decorations

Sharing a Cup

Another tradition is for the bride and groom to drink from a special cup that lets them both drink at the same time. This is based on the “Legend of the Maiden Bridal Cup” and you can buy one of the beautiful cups at mayhemltd.com.This cup would also make a thoughful gift to the bride from the groom. The cup, and it’s beautiful story could also be used to propose!

Flower Horse Power

In Germany, real flowers are used to decorate the cars, rather than the ribbons, bows, and plastic flowers often used in North America.

In the 1950′s people really knew how to throw a cocktail party (or at least in the movies they did, anyways!).

Finger Foods, Mixed Drinks, and Party Games

A Classic Cocktail Party (fifties theme) is the perfect setting for a bridal shower, engagement party, or jack and jill party.

And, here’s a great idea: carry the 50′s theme a step further by focussing on that famous 50′s married TV couple: Lucy and Ricky Ricardo!

Copy the heart from the TV series credits but replace “I Love Lucy” with the names of the engaged couple. Play your favorite episodes of the show on a TV set (this will give party guests something to talk about – a bonus if your guest list is made up of lots of people who are just getting acquainted).

You can even buy a CD of Desi Arnaz performing his hits – aptly named “Cocktail Hour”.

amazon.ca

Games

Lucy and Ricky VS. Fred and Ethel

Seat the engaged couple together against the Best Man and Maid of Honor. Print out the faces of Lucy, Ricky, Fred, and Ethel and either make them into masks or use them to label the contestants’ spots if you are seating them behind table. Or, better yet, make them wear t-shirts with the character’s head printed across the chest. Explain that you will be asking questions to see who knows the bride and groom better – the fiance/fiancee or the best friends? Ask the party guests to take sides – who will win? Ask a series of questions. Give prizes to the winning couple and party favors to the guests standing on the winners’ side of the room (jello shots perhaps?).

Party Prizes

Get party prizes straight from the source – you can shop at the I Love Lucy online store. Purchases help support the Lucy-Desi Museum and the Desilu Playhouse in Jamestown, New York. They have a whole line of salt and pepper sets based on household items (vacuum, washer/dryer, toaster) all very 50′s housewife and reminiscent of classic wedding gifts. Other ideas from their store: a set of Lucy coasters or a tin of of Lucy’s Predica-mints!

August 07 2013

This is the first in a two part series about monogrammed items for weddings.

Today we feature wedding cake toppers in the monogram style.

How Do Monograms Work?

Here are some guidelines for how to create a monogram for you and your fiance(e). The bride and groom should decide what letters will make up their monogram, and it is proper etiquette for others to ask before having any gifts or wedding items monogrammed.

3 Letter Style

Traditionally the middle letter is the first letter of the groom’s last name. The letters go in the following order: first letter of wife’s first name, first letter of groom’s last name, first letter of groom’s first name. For example, if John Smith and Roberta Aster marry, their monogram would be RSJ.

1 Letter Style

The letter used here would be the shared last name of the married couple (if appropriate). For example, if John Smith and Roberta Aster marry, their monogram would be S.

topperswithglitz.com

4 Letter Style

This style works for blended last names (for example brides who will hyphenate their last names or just keep their original last name). For example, if John Smith and Roberta Aster marry, their monogram would be RSAJ (first letter bride’s first name, first letter bride’s last name, first letter groom’s last name, first letter groom’s first name).

2 Letter Style

This is another option for blended last names, where you just use the first letter of each last name (beginning with the bride’s last name). In the example above, this monogram would be S-A.

shopbakersnook.com

Ampersand Style

For a more contemporary and less formal look you might choose to use an ampersand (that’s the ‘and’ symbol). In this case, you use the first letter of both first names (example: Roberta and John turns into R&J)

Heart Style

Another fun look – connect the two first names with a heart (example: Roberta hearts John)

beau-coup.com

Last Names – Other Guidelines

Last names that start with an apostrophe or Mc (examples: O’Reagan or McDonald) still use the very first letter (in these examples: “O” and “M”).

Simply Elegant

Here is theclassic monogram stylefor a cake topper. This style will work well with an ornately decorated cake. It would also suit an overall simple, understated look too if that is what you’re aiming for.

I was recently in a candy store that had an old collection of PEZ dispensers on display and saw a PEZ version of a bride and groom, which I thought would make an excellent wedding cake topper for the couple with a sweet tooth.

Here is an example of a bride and groom PEZ couple.

Good luck getting this one on your cake, the original sells for about $3500 now according to an article at money.cnn.com.

You can get re-issues of this PEZ design – check ebay or pezcollectors.com – as of writing this article they both had a set available for around $20.00.

In fact an entire sweet theme, would be kind of – well, sweet.

Set up a candy station

You can select candies that match your wedding colors and let guests fill up their own goodie bags as tasty wedding favors!

Visit ohnuts.com for great tips for how to set up your own candy station.

ohnuts.com

Personalized Sweets

An Australian company will make you personalized candy (the candy below says Ben ‘hearts’ Renee).

For the bachelor or bachelorette with a sense of humor…

This party theme would work well for a stag or stagette, bridal shower, or even a surprise party at work for an engaged coworker.

Costume Party

Make your victim (oops, I mean the engaged person) wear this ball and chain for the duration of the event. You can get these at most costume stores – also available online for as little as $3.99.

buycostumes.com

Does He?

zazzle.com

Life Sentence

Or, make the bride to be wear this sexy convict costume. Bride-it-up with a veil and write ‘Sentenced to Life as a Mrs’ or something like that across her chest or back.

nightmarefactory.com

Decorations

Use black or silver construction paper to make chains for decoration (you can use black balloons as the balls). Hang them on the walls or from the ceiling or attach them around all of the table and chair legs.

birthdayinabox.com

Or, you can get fancy and order some pretty precut paper for your chains:

velvetstore.co.uk

Refreshments

Martini

The ‘Ball and Chain’ martini is made from berry flavored vodka, orange liqueur, lime juice, and fresh blueberries (recipe at foodnetwork.com)

Cake Decoration

Dessert is a piece of cake with this cake topper – just stick it on top of any store bought cake of your choice (ice cream cakes are always popular with the boys).

bachelorettesuperstore.com

Snacking

Black mini chocolate balls.

candywarehouse.com

Fun and Games

Write down a list of rules everyone has to follow – guests have to take a drink or lose a point every time they break the rules (things you’re “not allowed” to do once you’re married).

Examples: Catch other guests or the guest of honor flirting, checking out men/women, dancing with men/women, ignoring a phone call from significant other, etc. The goal here is for the party guests to lure the guest of honor into doing these things (and then catch him/her at it!).